This is my third installment about finding domain names by domain name servers. In this article, I will provide you with the tools you need to search by DNS and some of the more popular domain name servers and who and what they are used for. If you have not read my other two postings, I would suggest you read the following in the order listed.
Try searching Domain Names By DNS ~ This article covers a very affordable tool to use for searching for domain names by DNS (domain name servers). You can search based on domain names using a specific domain name server but also use things like keyword, length etc.
Using DNS To Find Pre-Release NameJet Domains ~ This article covers a couple more tools (both free) to use while searching via DNS. I explain finding pre-release Network Solutions domain names by DNS using RegistrarStats.com .
So what is different about using DNS to search for domain names? You can find specific domains is the easiest way for me to explain it. Yes you can go to NameJet.com and find expired domain names but good luck doing so if you want to only find Network Solutions expired domain names!
How do you find only expired domain names for Register.com? Tucows?
DNS!
There are many benefits by searching domain names via DNS. Let’s say you are an investigator like most domainers. You want to be sneaky…. or you just want to find out what domain names are using a specific DNS. Using a whois service like Whois.sc and search a specific domain name, you will see the specific domain name server listed for that domain. Then use a tool like DnsLocator.com and you can find all the domain names listed on that specific DNS.
DNS Domain Search Tools
DnsLocator.com is not 100% perfect but works well and has several nice features. By far the cheapest at $19.99 per/mo for unlimited searches via DNS. This works best for seeing "all" domain names on a specific DNS or for searching for specific domain names by keyword, length etc. on a specific DNS. The tool is a little limited and mainly based on the amount of domain names on a specific DNS. The tool works well on DNS with around 100K or less domains. This tool will not work trying to pull in domain names from a Godaddy DNS hosting some 25 Million domains.
RegistrarStats.com This tool allows you to see movements by domain name servers. I like looking at that data and you can also search by specific DNS to see movements. I cover more in the second article listed above on this tool. This service is Free.
DailyChanges.com Somewhat similar to RegistrarStats.com but with a great deal less options for the user. This tool basically displays domain changes by domain name servers. This tool is also Free.
DomainTools.com Name Server Report. Unless your Bill Gates, you will likely not use this service as it is very expensive. Some searches depending on how many domains are on a DNS can cost Thousands of dollars Per Search! Use DnsLocator.com for the same results at MUCH lower cost! You can use this tool but again…. it is expensive, sometimes CRAZY expensive!
Tip: When searching by DNS, prevent doing a broad search. A broad search would be just using the Domain Name only as this will result in duplicate returns. Most DNS have two servers, aka NS1 and NS2. Not including NS1 (or whatever number is used) will result in the same domain being displayed for NS1 and NS2 in most cases. Use the name servers Exactly as displayed below for an example will only return a specific domain once in the list.
Popular Domain Name Servers
Here is a list of some popular domain name servers that I am aware of that services in the domain name industry use for specific reasons.The following are used for expired domain names:
NetworkSolutions.com : NS1.PENDINGRENEWALDELETION.COM
Register.com: ns1.expireddomains.register.com
Tucows: NS1.RENEWYOURNAME.NET
PublicDomainRegistry: DNS.PARKPAGE.FOUNDATIONAPI.COM
BizCN: ns1.pending-renewal-domain.com
NameSecure: ns1.pendingtrd.com
DirectNic: EXPIRED-DOMAIN-NS50.DIRECTNIC.COM
Joker.com: NOT-RENEWED.JOKER.COM
XinNET: dns5.expirenotification.com
MelbourneIT: eppns1.melbourneit.com
The best way to find specific DNS to search for is by using RegistrarStats.com and browse around through the Most Active section or Top Movements. This is how I discovered the above list overtime. Once I saw a specific DNS, I would simply do a whois check using the domain and you can put two and two together most of the time and see who owns it and what the DNS is likely used for.
I often times discover different DNS while doing a whois look-up and these are mainly used for doing a little snooping. 
For an example, BuyDomains.com always uses two specific DNS for its domain names that are "parked" / "listed for sale". NS.BUYDOMAINS.COM and THIS-DOMAIN-FOR-SALE.COM . Using RegistrarStats.com and using the Movement By Name feature, you can use either of those two and see the IN domains… which are likely domain names they recently purchased… OUT domains can be expired, sold etc.
Again, using DNS really gives you a backdoor look at things. With a little deeper digging once you see specific domain names, can lead you into a lot of data.
You could use ns1.parked.com (with DnsLocator.com) and see domain names using the Parked.com domain name parking service. ns1.sedoparking.com to see domain names parked with Sedo.com etc. The options are pretty limitless unless you do not know the DNS used or if there are just too many domains listed on a specific DNS.
Clearly it would be nice for those who search via DNS if every service used specific DNS for specific reasons like the above listed registrars that use the stated DNS for expired domains. Not all services do that and GoDaddy.com is a perfect example of a registrar that doesn’t. GoDaddy pretty much uses the same DNS for everything! NS.XX.DOMAINCONTROL.COM (XX = Numbers) for expired domains, hosted domains and default DNS for registration. GoDaddy does use a specific DNS for its parking service Cash Parking which is NS01.CASHPARKING.COM that currently has about 1.1 Million domains using it.
I hope this helps explain using DNS to search for domain names and why it can be a valuable tool that few know about or use! The specific DNS’s provided should help you in searching for expired domain names to obtain raw lists of domain names that you can do as you wish with them. I often use my DRT software and run scans on the lists.
